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Avignon Gourmet Tours Fall 2019.

Two dates for Gourmet Tours of Avignon, Fall 2019. The dates are October 5, 2019 – October 12,2019. The second tour October 19, 2019 – October 26, 2019.

We love to travel in the fall because we have Provence to ourselves.

This tour will take place in Avignon, the city of Popes.

About Avignon.

From the bank of the broad turbulent River Rhone rise the magnificent ramparts of Avignon , golden stones redolent with medieval grandeur and power.Within the walls the town seems quintessentially southern; It bursts with energy, yet echoes with history. A crowded central avenue ( Jean- Jaures & Republique) makes its way from city gate to the looming Papal Palace . A few spots to visit such as The ramparts which were built on the orders of the popes at the start of their 14th -century reign, they make a complete circle of the old city, a distance of 4.3 km.

Le Pont St -Benezet.

This famous bridge ( Pont d’Avignon) from the nursery ryhme has made this city a household name. It broken arches step just one halfway across one arm of the river. Originally built in 1177 under the inspiration of a shepherd boy called Benezet , money for the project was raised by a religious brotherhood called Les freres Pontifes. In the Espace St-Benezet beside the gatehouse, the museum en images Pont d’Avignon tells the story of the bridge with a video on a giant screen.

A stop at Le Petit Palais the popes acquired this dignified building in 1335 and was later transformed into a sumptuous residence for the sixteen century cardinal Giullio Della Rovere, who went on to become Pope Julius 2 and after s long time afterwards, Le PetitPalais it served as a sort of guest-room for the city’s royalty and nobility. Cardinal DellaRovere took a great interest in the arts, he was the patron Michelangelo and began a collection of paintings and sculptures which today has turned the building into a remarkable art museum.

Notre- Dame -des-Doms

Standing on the site of an even older church, Avignon’s resilient 12th-century cathedral along side the Papal Palace has been repaired and reconstructed many times during the town’s history, incorporating hotchpotch of styles. During the revolution Avignon was largely on the royalist side -when the church was pillaged and all but wrecked. Some blame the misguided reconstruction of the church – A gilded Madonna on the Romanesque bell tower.

Place de l’Horloge.

This used to be the forum ( public square ) of the Roman city, it still is Avignon’s enticing focal point, even in the winter surrounded by hundreds of tables under parasols where it is a delight to linger over breakfast or a late lunch. An old fashion carousel in the square is usually working while on one side stands the city’s theater & the Grand old 19th-century town hall, which incorporates a 14th-century clock tower ( horloge).